KABUL, Afghanistan - A potentially serious rift has emerged in the way the Afghan and U.S. governments view "insider" shootings, instances of Afghan police and soldiers turning their guns on Western troops. Washington and NATO coalition officials have consistently said most of the shootings, which have claimed the lives of at least 10 U.S. service members this month alone, stem from personal disputes, stress, cultural differences and battle fatigue, with a small percentage of the assailants acting at the behest of the Taliban.

October 2, 2011 | By Alex Rodriguez and Aimal Yaqubi, Los Angeles Times

Pakistan's Foreign Ministry on Sunday strongly rejected claims that the nation's premier spy agency was involved in the assassination of Afghanistan's chief negotiator with the Taliban. Afghan and U.S. officials have been increasing pressure on Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence agency, or ISI, to sever its ties with the Haqqani network, an affiliate of the Afghan Taliban regarded by Washington as the most dangerous security threat to U.S., NATO and Afghan forces in Afghanistan.

A private Pakistani television network has divulged what it claims is the name of the CIA's current station chief in Islamabad, the second time in six months that local media have attempted to unmask the agency's top spy in the South Asian nation. However, the Associated Press on Monday reported without elaboration that the network got the name wrong. The report by the private ARY network raised the possibility that Pakistan's intelligence community could be trying to broadside the CIA following embarrassment here over the U.S. raid last week that killed Osama bin Laden.

President Obama's plan to create a unified U.S. strategy for Afghanistan and Pakistan marks his effort to sever his administration's approach from the failures of the past. But administration officials are struggling to identify a clear path around the problem that has undermined U.S.

Taking a significant step to end one of the world's most dangerous conflicts, nuclear-armed rivals India and Pakistan agreed to a cease-fire Tuesday aimed at halting 14 years of cross-border gun battles in the disputed Kashmir region. The cease-fire's prospects for success remained uncertain because the militants who often launch deadly raids from Pakistan into Indian-held territory are not covered by the agreement.

With help from the U.S., Pakistan's main intelligence agency has nabbed a top Al Qaeda commander suspected of planning attacks on American oil pipelines, tankers and other economic targets. The arrest suggested that the deep tension that had derailed cooperation between the two countries may be easing. Younis al Mauritani, a senior Al Qaeda commander, was arrested in the southern city of Quetta along with two other senior Al Qaeda operatives, Abdul Ghaffar al Shami and Messara al Shami, Pakistan's military said Monday.

A pair of suicide bombers, in apparently synchronized attacks, killed at least 35 people today in early-morning blasts near major military installations, Pakistani officials said. The powerful blasts in the garrison city of Rawalpindi, next to Islamabad, the capital, targeted a bus carrying employees of Pakistan's spy agency, Inter-Services Intelligence, and a checkpoint outside army headquarters.

September 5, 2007 | Mubashir Zaidi and Henry Chu, Special to The Times

Police stepped up security and put this capital on high alert Tuesday after apparent twin suicide bombings in a nearby army garrison city killed 25 people and injured more than 60. The double blasts struck at the heart of Pakistan's military establishment in Rawalpindi, which adjoins Islamabad and is home to President Pervez Musharraf and other senior government figures.

Tribal fighters near the border with Afghanistan have killed 300 foreign militants allegedly linked to Al Qaeda over the last few weeks, President Pervez Musharraf said Thursday. Speaking at a counterterrorism conference here in the capital, Musharraf acknowledged for the first time that Pakistan's military had been assisting the tribesmen in their battle against mostly Uzbek militants who have found a haven in the remote, lawless region of South Waziristan.